Lankurns

These little ball-of-fuzz creatures vastly populate forests and swamps where their insect prey is plentiful, but are located in just about any temperate climate where prey is to be found. They have a furry, spherical main body about the size of a tennis ball and a wingspan of about two feet. At the forefront of said body rests a large gemstone that functions as both an eye and an ear. On either side are a pair of two long fingers with a thin web of flesh spread between to form wings. On the underside of the body sprouts a long, prehensile tail similar in appearance to that of a rat.

Typically, their fur and the skin on their fingers, webbing, and tail, are a dimmer, duller version of whatever color their gem is, and the gems on Lankurns range the full spectrum of visible light.

A lankurn can see through its gem, but lankurns are very light-blind, and have difficulty seeing when in the presence of light; the brighter the light, the hazier their vision becomes. Lankurns also are capable of detecting minute vibrations (both in the air and through objects they are in contact with) via their gem.

Although the lankurn's diet consists mostly of small insects, they can occasionally be spotted eating berries or carrion. Lankurns have the ability to let their gem emit light, and they use this to lure in their insect prey. They often hang from branches, suspending themselves by their tails with their wings folded in almost like a cocoon, and shine their gems brightly. This is what has earned them their common-tongue name of "bog lights." Insects are attracted to the light. Unfortunately, the lankurn's own light will irritate its vision, making it difficult, if not impossible, to see the insects that it is attracting. Instead, while illuminating its gem, the lankurn relies on its gem's hyper-detection of sound. When it detects that an insect is close, it will swiftly turn off its gem's shine and snap at its prey, pursuing it if necessary, although only for a short distance.

Lankurns are naturally fairly dormant creatures, much preferring to wait for prey to come to them rather than chase it down themselves.

A lankurn's light tends to shine brighter the more hungry they are, as an attempt to draw in more insects from farther reaches.

Lankurns also use their gem to pulse signals to one another for communication. Although they have mouths, they have no vocal abilities, and all of their communication is performed through pulsing light signals.

Docile and dormant by nature, lankurns are easy to domesticate, although many do not bother because their nocturnal nature and light-blindness can make them difficult to care for.